Ocala accountant gets probation in theft of $36K from restaurant

Friday

A 37-year-old accountant was sentenced to four years of probation Friday after he pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from an Ocala restaurant.

Steven Cabrera, of Ocala, entered the plea Friday morning, and Circuit Judge Steven Rogers withheld adjudication of guilt. Cabrera must complete 100 hours of community service, pay fines and court cost, have no contact with the victims, and stay away from the restaurant, Mesa De Notte Ristorante, 2436 E. Silver Springs Blvd.

He was accused of stealing $36,812.

Cabrera, who was wearing a shirt, dress pants and a tie, stood beside his lawyer Melanie Slaughter as the judge announced the probationary sentence. The maximum sentence, Rogers said, was 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

An Ocala Police officer went to Mesa De Notte in February to take a report about the theft, according to an affidavit by OPD Detective Charles Hunt. An owner said they had given Cabrera two weeks to correct the issue but when he didn't they contacted OPD.

The restaurant owners said Cabrera had been the accountant for them since 2010 and that a $36,812.22 check for their business was instead deposited in another account, according to Hunt's report. The owners said the money was a refund for over-payment of payroll taxes in 2016.

Video from the bank showed Cabrera depositing the check, according to OPD.

The detective determined that Cabrera deposited the check in an account he had created to hide it from the owners. During a monitored phone call in March, Cabrera could not give them a reason why the money was placed in his account, according to the OPD report.

Cabrera was booked into the Marion County Jail on April 5 and bonded out of jail the same day.